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I'm after some advice from a few of the more experienced and knowledgeable members of this forum.

My situation is this, I'm currently riding between 10-15 hours a week regularly, which is great and is seeing some good improvements. I do no specific training at all, I just ride for the enjoyment of being on the bike.I mix road and MTB, but generally ride more on the road these days.Here is where my question lies, I'm a reasonably competent MTB'er and usually run top 15-20 in most events within my state.Ideally, I'd love someone to help me understand my most efficient way to bridge the gap to the top ten guys?

I'm happy to link up my Strava profile if anyone wants to look specifically at what i do.

Whilst my question is very open, I'm hoping someone might be inclined to help me with a structure or a few ideas to keep my riding improving.

Whilst bridging to the top guys implies more then fitness, here is what I think of it:

*workouts are not exclusive*

-You could try to improve your FTP with specific L4 workouts (2x20, 3x15, over/under, 5x5 with short rests). Some may argue a high FTP isnt necessary for MTB racing, I disagree. A high FTP means you have more room to push your L6 and short L5 power up and you have a bigger engine to recover from short hard efforts. It might help staying strong towards the end of the race as well.

-You need a good anaerobic repeatability. I personnaly train with short, sharp efforts with short rests (30/30, 20/40, 15/15, 20/10). I dont aim for absurdly high anaerobic power but really focus on repeatability. From race file analysis, at my weight, the high power efforts are often in the 500-600W range with some short bursts in the 700W range.

Technical skill and pacing are other components that would help you achieve your goal.